A Fort in Paradise: Part I

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Fort Snelling and the surrounding land it sits on are home to some of the most important moments in our history. The beginning of cities, states, and a nation started in this small, yet vital area. The historic fort and state park are going through a transformation over the course of the next few years; transitioning from informing visitors about the importance of the fort itself to telling the many stories of not only the soldiers, veterans, and their families, but also enslaved and free African Americans, Japanese Americans and their roll in WWII, and Native Americans, whose land we occupy. With the coming changes, there is no doubt that Historic Fort Snelling will continue to educate the public on the very diverse history of that land.

1848 paintings by Seth Eastman, "The St. Peters River near its Confluence with the Mississippi"

"Pilots Knob. Mouth of the St. Peters River" by Seth Eastman - 1846-48

For over 12,000 years, Native Americans have traversed the waterways of the Upper Midwest and have called this vast area home; where the forest ends, and the prairie begins. The confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers was, and still is, the most important spot in the world to the Dakota people. According to their oral traditions, this is the very site where life began for them. Known as Bdote, or “where two waters come together,” many Dakota believe that spirits came down from the Spirit Road, Caŋku Wanaġi, also known as the Milky Way, and when they arrived on Earth, the Creator shaped the first people from the clay of Maka Ina, “Mother Earth.” These people were the Oceti Ṡakowiŋ, or Seven Council Fires, historically known at the Sioux.

Carver's Cave, 1913

The Mdewakanton Dakota consider this area to be their “Garden of Eden.” The center of the world is not the only sacred place located in the surrounding area. The village of Kaposia, Taku Wakan Tipi, or Carver's Cave, Mni Sni, or Coldwater Spring, and Oheyawahi, or Pilot Knob are all located within a mile or so from Bdote. Thousands of years of building a culture and community with Bdote as their paradise, the origin of their people, would be briefly disrupted as colonizers in the east were slowly encroaching.

Portrait of Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, 1810French Canadian fur traders frequented these waterways starting in the 1600s, but it wasn’t until 1805 when the course of Dakota history would change forever. In the summer of 1805, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike was ordered to locate the source of the Mississippi River, explore the northern portion of the newly created Louisiana Territory, and expel Canadian fur traders who were illegally conducting business within the borders of the United States. On August 9th, he began his journey up the Mississippi from St. Louis. His first major stop was in Prairie du Chien, now in Wisconsin, where he was joined by guides who were familiar with the upper Mississippi and a half-French Canadian half-Mdewakanton Dakota translator, Joseph Renville, my first cousin, nine times removed.

Almost a month later on September 21st, Pike and his crew arrived at Bdote. Unfortunately, without permission, he negotiated a treaty that would hand over land at the mouth of the St. Croix River, the land around Bdote, and land up the Mississippi to St. Anthony Falls, Owamni. In total, the treaty gave the United States over 150,000 acres of Dakota land. Only two of the seven Dakota leaders present signed the treaty. It took Washington DC another three years to finally address Pike’s unapproved treaty discussions. With no Dakota representatives present, the Senate agreed to give the Dakota $2,000, or over $31,500 after inflation, even though Pike initially valued the land to be worth $200,000, or over $3,150,000 after inflation. In other words, the Senate agreed to give the Dakota $3,118,500 less than what was agreed upon when they signed the treaty.

Even though the U.S. Senate knew the treaty was invalid, because Pike never had permission to negotiate, they continued to act as though it was a legally binding document and set plans in motion to go forward with putting a military fort somewhere on that land. The need for a fort in this area was immediate. The United States was struggling to keep British Canadian fur traders off U.S.-claimed soil as the nation was trying to expand to the west, but the lack of military forts in the northern frontier made that task almost impossible.

The British claimed land in what is now northern Minnesota, and tensions were rising between the Dakota and Ojibwe because of the pressures the westward expansion of the U.S. was putting on them, so many Native Americans joined the British cause during the War of 1812. This meant that building a fort on the Pike-negotiated land was put on the back burner until the U.S. and British could come to an agreement on their shared border. Bdote, a beautiful land, a sacred land, a land that is the center of the world for the Dakota, will be untouched for the time being, but the arrival of soldiers and settlers is imminent.

Stay tuned for Part II of the story!

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About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville Jr. received his B.A. in History from the University of St. Thomas, and is currently enrolled in their M.A. in Art History and Certificate in Museum Studies programs.

Michael is also an intern at the Hennepin History Museum and a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 7+ years. Contact: mrainvillejr@comcast.net.

Click here for an interactive map of Michael's past articles.